I bought this guy about 2.5 weeks ago. He did eat like 2 small fish the first day, then maybe one about 2 days later; and ever since then he has not eaten hardly anything. He has eaten maybe 1/2 of a rosyred body that the puffer or niger trigger left at the bottom in 3 days. This is all eat had really eaten in the previous 3 days. Hes about 4.5"s and is the first lionfish I have ever had that just didnt go to town on anything small enough for his mouth. It took me a long time to find a large radiatta and I really don't wont to lose him. I have read in the past sometimes lions can go a week without eating etc., but he seems to barely even be eating enough to survive. Anything that may spark his interest? He doesn't care for brine shimp etc either. Thanks for any help; please no flamming.
Help and advice for Radiatta Lion
- Thread starter hotwire73
- Start date
try live ghost shrimp and read this article
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/index.php
it should answer most of your lionfish husbandry questions
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-11/fm/feature/index.php
it should answer most of your lionfish husbandry questions
reefergeorge
New member
Not to preach, but you should have got him eating in QT.
rachenbrazil
Member
radiatas prefer shrimp rather than freshwater feeders. Mine started with leve feeders but then started to not eat then at all like Urs. After 3 days on hunger strike using a fish line I move a small piece of uncooked shrimp... after some trials , now his stapple is raw shrimp.... sometimes grabs some flake food but shirimp is better...
check for ich as it is hard to tell that your lion may have it until it is too late. If color is not bright as used to be...maybe need to check qater quality then ich... both will make color change and start hunger strike. Radiata lion is not the same as volitans... they need excellent water conditions ....
good luck
check for ich as it is hard to tell that your lion may have it until it is too late. If color is not bright as used to be...maybe need to check qater quality then ich... both will make color change and start hunger strike. Radiata lion is not the same as volitans... they need excellent water conditions ....
good luck
Hum I dont see any of the usual signs of ick, white spots on anything that normally is easy to spot. However it does almost look like a mucus type maybe (looks like shedding a layer of skin). Ill try to attach a pic, but its hard to see anything in the pic. But yeah he doesnt eat mysis, brine or anything; so Ill try to go get some small shrimp from the grocery store. As you can tell he's getting thin. As for water everything is pretty much 0 except nitrates and they are only like 10 ppm.
rachenbrazil
Member
color is not good , maybe you cannot spot ich , but it was just like mine when got sick... spots are visible on tail only... but anyway, he can heal but try to make it feed and make small water change to stimulate him...
Dont have any access to any salt water acclimated ghost shrimp, just fresh. Thing with that is I have 3 meat eaters not counting the fact everyone else would probably eat the ghost before he even thinks about eating them. So if I threw about 50+ in there he might get one if he does (note .40 each for these lol). I wish I still had a hospital tank set up, but all I have is a spare 55 gallon with a completely new filter that hasnt ever even started a cycle. I went to every food store in town and the near city; and all I could find for small shrimp is cooked salad no tail etc. Pretty bad when my black lion isnt even messing with the med. raw shrimp. I got some almost half gallon like cells that hang in the tank, even though there cut for flow, I have never had much luck with them. Doesnt seem they get the flow they need and do worse. Also considering hes 4-5 inches he wouldn't be able to move. As for Ick, I still cant tell; but there isn't a single spot on any of the fins that are clear where it would stand out. He does as stated before still have like a mucus like layer around the head that resembles shedding for a snake to me. I really would hate to do a fresh water dip for him but do you guys think it would be good at this point. The tank has chealted copper of course already in use. I do have hydroplex, but Ive only used it for a dip before adding to the tank. Please advise accordingly, and thanks for any help.
Very hard to get a good pic on here but this is the best I can get. If you look from the top of the gill to the top of his eye; and in front of the gill is a better look you can see somewhat what I'm talking about. Just it looks alot better in the pic with little resolution lol. I guess the good side is even my powder blue tang and emp. angel loves nibbling at the shrimp left overs.
Last edited:
mborn
New member
I have an Antennata lionfish that's the same size as your Radiatta. It loves ghost shrimp. I target feed using fine tipped plastic grabbers. I pinch the end of the tail of the ghost shrimp in the tip of the grabber and hold it in front of the lion. The ghost shrimp flips back and forth trying to get free. This movement really attracts the lion and it gulps it down. The fish just rips the shrimp out of the grabbers so I don't need to bother releasing the shrimp before the fish strikes. The fish isn't scared of the grabber at all, it only seems to notice the movement of the shrimp. I can feed it as many shrimp as it can eat and the other fish don't steel it or get in the way. You might try this first before throwing numerous shrimp in your tank.
Also you might try these:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+2190+2191&pcatid=2191
Also you might try these:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+2190+2191&pcatid=2191
Yould be amazed at how hard it is to find a set of small grabbers around here. You cant even hardly find brine shrimp eggs anymore or the kits to hatch them. I do have like a 5 gallon nano I wonder if he could make it in there for a little while. Its hard to know what to medicate him against when I cant get a clear idea what is wrong with him. There is already about a maximum dosage of chealted copper in the main tank with him. He is getting considerably worse. The problem is once you medicate a tank with the copper the ghost shrimp or anything like it doesnt live very long and that kills alot of the attraction.
You can use a large Sterilite or Rubbermaid tub as a QT if you need to. Better to do that than to put it in a tiny tank. You want to reduce stress, so give it plenty of room. Are lions sensitive to copper? If so, that could be part of the problem (I don't ever use copper because I have a few fish I KNOW are sensitive.)
I actually found a 20 gallon tote in the building I forgot about. I have a new 55 gallon complete setup just didnt want to have a 3rd tank in a 1000sq ft home, it was for a backup in case of a leak or something. Anyway Im using the heater and filter that came with it, so hopefully that will be enough and the 200 watt heater wont over do it. Im not going to pull any rocks from the main tank since they all I am sure have absorbed enough copper. Ill just have to do alot of checks. I just know somewhere in a few days that filter is going to start a cycle.
Now I dont have any real light going to him, I hope that will not be a problem if it is let me know quickly so I can somehow adjust.
Now I dont have any real light going to him, I hope that will not be a problem if it is let me know quickly so I can somehow adjust.
smitch
New member
I had a volitan that hasnt eating for a week and when he did it was half hearted (this guy ate everything before,frozen krill, silversides and shrimp.
To some it may sound mean, but I bought 3 blue damsels and damn if that lionfish didnt do a complete 180. He went into attack mode and ate two right from the start. I still have one 'smart' damsel left. He knows to stay away from the lions mouth. The lionfish still shows interest in the blue damsel, but can never catch him. Anyways, the lion has been eating like a champ ever since.....even flake food. Now when its feeding time he meets me up on the top of the water and spits water at me until I drop some food in.
I think lionfish can get depressed and bored in normal tank life. Giving them back the hunt can sometimes liven them up.
I hope yours is doing better.
To some it may sound mean, but I bought 3 blue damsels and damn if that lionfish didnt do a complete 180. He went into attack mode and ate two right from the start. I still have one 'smart' damsel left. He knows to stay away from the lions mouth. The lionfish still shows interest in the blue damsel, but can never catch him. Anyways, the lion has been eating like a champ ever since.....even flake food. Now when its feeding time he meets me up on the top of the water and spits water at me until I drop some food in.
I think lionfish can get depressed and bored in normal tank life. Giving them back the hunt can sometimes liven them up.
I hope yours is doing better.
I don't know, I'm not familiar with it. unless you know it has disease or parasites, I'd put it into an unmedicated tank with good water quality and no tankmates asap. then offer live food, as suggested in the previous posts. keep a watch on water quality and keep stress low. only medicate if you have evidence that there is disease. if there are high levels of copper in your dt, they could be the problem. also, as someone else mentioned, these lions can be delicate and don't always have good survival. good luck!
